South Asian CEOs to form regional grouping<\/p>\n
Agence France-Presse
\nNew Delhi<\/p>\n
South Asian corporate chiefs plan to launch a forum to push
\nfor free trade and investment in the region ahead of a seven-
\nnation summit in Islamabad, an Indian trade leader said on
\nFriday.<\/p>\n
Ajay Khanna, deputy director general of the Confederation of
\nIndian Industry, said the chief executive officers will set up
\nthe forum by video conference and draft a joint statement for the
\nseven nations' leaders.<\/p>\n
\"We want to build South Asia as a manufacturing and
\noutsourcing hub for the world. We want to remove all barriers in
\nthe way of the tremendous intellectual talent here,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"We are basically interested in a South Asian economic union
\nwhich can be achieved by harmonizing the industry standards,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Khanna recommended a regional bank to mold economic policy,
\nmore cooperation in tourism and a lifting of restrictions on
\npeople's movement within the politically troubled region.<\/p>\n
He added that close cooperation will enable the smaller South
\nAsian nations to accelerate their economies as they would be able
\nto tap into the vast Indian economy which in the second quarter
\nsaw booming 8.4 percent growth.<\/p>\n
Hopes for strong trade in the region have been fanned by the
\nwarming ties between India and Pakistan, whose rivalry has
\nrepeatedly set back progress of the South Asian Association for
\nRegional Cooperation (SAARC).<\/p>\n
South Asian foreign ministers were meeting on Friday in
\nIslamabad to hammer out the draft South Asian Free Trade
\nAgreement (FTA) and an agreement on fighting poverty.<\/p>\n
Only five percent of the international trade of SAARC
\ncountries -- Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan
\nand Sri Lanka -- is within the region, Khanna said.<\/p>\n
In comparison, it is around 65 percent in the European Union
\nand 22 percent in ASEAN, the Southeast Asian bloc, he said.<\/p>\n
SAARC heads of state and government are due to open a summit
\non Sunday for the first time in two years.<\/p>",
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